Two consecutive earthquakes struck Western Turkey on 17 August 1999.
The two quakes registered about 7 on the Richter scale and each lasted about 45 seconds.
At least twenty-seven aftershocks followed the quakes.
The epicenter was near Izmit, some 70 kilometers southeast of Istanbul.
An estimated 13,000 died, 16,000 were seriously injured, more than 100,000 are homeless, and 35,000 are believed to be buried in the wreckage.
The damage, totaling billions of dollars, was very extensive to residential and industrial buildings.
Coastal naval bases and seaports were destroyed, electric wires were down, water lines were cut, roads cracked, and bridges collapsed.
A major fire broke out in the Izmit Refinery.
Rescue teams with supplies and equipment arrived from US bases in Turkey and from all over the world.
Two American search-rescue teams and 1,000 relief workers from nineteen countries scoured crumbling buildings for trapped survivors.
Firefighters from eight European countries succeeded in controlling the refinery fires.
Nearly every European country sent money.
Relief workers and Turkey's Psychological Association are counseling children.
Hospitals are flooded with the injured and some 200,000 homeless are living in tents, educational facilities, and in open area.
There is an overwhelming need for portable toilets, garbage collection, disposal of bodies, and reconstruction of living facilities and factories.
Estimated cost of recovery is between $4.5 and $17 million.
Although severely criticized for its failures, the government is confident of recovery because of a construction boom, extensive measures to cope with new quakes, and improvement of construction standards.
